Photo by Jake Przytarski Ruthton’s Chris Dougherty swings at a pitch during their playoff game against Lakefield on Friday. The Royals fell to the Frogs 11-0 in seven innings.

RUTHTON – A six-run second inning sealed the Ruthton Royals’ fate in an 11-0 loss in seven innings to the Lakefield Horned Frogs in Game 2 of the First Nite/Gopher League playoffs on Friday. The game marked the Royals’ second loss in the best-of-three series that began with a 12-2 defeat on Wednesday, bringing the series and the Royals’ season to an end.

On the hill for the Royals was Christopher Dougherty, who ran into some trouble early as the Horned Frogs swung a red-hot bat on Friday. Dougherty was able to retire the first two Horned Frog hitters, but with two outs the Frogs got a man aboard with a single and followed it up with an RBI double to bring the first run home. The next batter would go on to groundout to bring the Royals back to the dugout.

Like in the field, the Royals struggled to make contact with the Frog’s pitcher throughout the night. Dain LaRock led off the bottom of the first and was the only Royal to reach base, as Tylan Gylling grounded into a double play in the next at-bat following LaRock’s leadoff walk. Shay Wabeke struck out in his first plate appearance to end the inning.

The Frogs all but sealed the game in the second as they put on an eight-hit clinic that resulted in six runs when it was all said and done. The highlight of the inning came on a two-run blast to left field that brought in the fifth and sixth runs. They would add one more on an RBI double before the final out was made to end the top half of the second.

The offensive struggles continued in the second in what was a quick 1-2-3 inning that started with a popout from Eric Wiering. Dougherty and Walker Kor followed with popouts of their own to bring the Frogs back up to bat in the top of the third.

After their six-run outburst in the second, the Frogs continued to pour it on in the third beginning with a pair of leadoff singles. A popout registered the first out but another single loaded the bases for an RBI single to make it 8-0. A well-executed 1-2-3 double-play in the next at-bat got Dougherty out of the jam to end the frame.

Jared Baartman led off for the Royals in the bottom of the third looking to put some runs on board in a game that was slipping away fast. Unfortunately neither Baartman nor Brent Wiering or Mitch Biever could reach base in another 1-2-3 inning.

In the top of the fourth Dougherty bounced back from his shaky start to retire the first two batters via popouts. A single in the next at-bat was all the offense that the Frogs generated in the half-inning to keep the score at 8-0 with the Royals needing to put some runs together.

LaRock led off for the Royals in his second plate appearance of the night after drawing a walk in the first. This time around he struck out to mark the first out of the inning. Gylling drew a walk in his next at-bat but was left stranded as Wabeke and Eric Wiering were retired on a foul popout behind the plate followed by a groundout for another hitless inning.

The Frogs were held off the board in the fourth but bounced back in the fifth beginning with a leadoff single. The next batter reached on an error and a double followed to bring the leadoff man home for the first run of three in the fifth for the Frogs. A sacrifice fly and an RBI single brought in the second and third runs to bring the score to 11-0.

Now staring down a double-digit deficit late in the game, the Royals tried their best to get a get on the board, but stout pitching and a beautiful play in the field prevented it. The Frogs trotted out a new pitcher to start the fifth and got the first out via a Dougherty groundout. In what could be described as the story of the game for the Royals, Kor connected on a liner that looked like it was headed for the gap between the shortstop and second base. Instead, the shortstop made a full-extension diving catch for the out.

In the final two innings, both teams were unable to add any more runs, leading to the final score of 11-0 in seven. The Lakefield Horned Frogs will now wait until Monday to see who they will be matched up with in the second round playoff series.